IF GREAT POETS HAD KNOWN THE SHIBA ...

Oh, Beagles scent and Whippets sight,
And hardly the twain shall meet
Till Shibas go hunting by day or night -
These versatile dogs are neat!                          Kipling
 

A golden redness darts along the shadowed lawn -
Dark eyes reflect the brightness of the rising sun.
A tireless dog of oriental breed
Charges my heart and says "I'm all you need".                   Dickinson
 

That's my  dear Michi painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive.  I call
That piece a wonder, for the artist caught
The glory of that day. I splurged and bought
Champagne to fill the silver trophy cup
And felt I had already drunk it up.                                     Robert Browning

 

Though I have traveled in the realms of gold
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen,
In far Pacific islands I have been
Enamored of a dog both quick and bold.
Before I knew the Shiba, I'd been told
About its ancient heritage, serene
Nature, and what each Standard term should mean,
But now I have one I can pet and hold!                          Keats
 

Dog Kisses
Eskimos
Go for the nose.
The Shiba is quicker
As an ear licker.                                                       Ogden Nash
 

Shiba, Shiba, small and bright,
In the quiet of the night
I imagine that you say,
"Kon bawa! Come and play!"                                      Blake

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It was a handler and his dog,
With a hey and a ho and hey non-i-no,
That to the dog show grounds did go
In the spring time, the summer, or the fall time,
Or even in the cold, hey ding a ding, ding,
That home a ribbon they might bring.                            Shakespeare

Oh where ha'e ye been, Lord Randal, my son?
Oh where ha'e ye been, my handsome young man?
I ha'e been to the dog show, mither, make bed soon,
For I'm full worn and weary from the running around.            Anon.

Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!
Ordinary dog thou never wert -
Into Heaven or near it
        Bringest thou my heart
By cleverness and unpremeditated art.                           Percy Bysshe Shelley

It is an ancient breed of dog;
Of the six it is the smallest one,
With a curled-over tail and coat of red-dun,
But of them all, most fun.                                              Coleridge

O my dog is like a red, red rose
In garden or in vases.
O my doq is like a melodie
        As  round the room he races .
Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And I bid fare thee weel,
I'll luve my Shiba still, my dear,
So deep the luve I feel.                                        Burns

Hyd, Retriever, thy gilte tresses clere;
        Wolfie, ley thou thy meknesse al a-doun;
Hyd, Collye dog, al thy frendly manere;
        All Terriers be no comparisoun,
For certes be the Shiba, of swich renoun,
        Nor Rottweiler nor Shepherd doth he fere.
Yet swetely hath he kist both cheke and ere,
        And mak no lhude blete, but bird-lyk soun.             Chaucer
 

"Discovered" by poet and Shiba breeder Fred Lanting     March 5, 1988

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